Pumpkins & SquashFor Pies & Baking
The oldest evidence of pumpkin-related seeds, dating to before 5,500 BC, were found in Mexico. This squash-like fruit can range in size from 1 to 1,000 pounds.
CINDERELLA
Cinderella Pumpkins are a unique French heirloom. They resemble the pumpkin that Cinderella’s fairy godmother transformed into a carriage. This pumpkin is recorded as possibly being the variety cultivated by the Pilgrims, and served at the second Thanksgiving dinner. Cinderellas make a delightful decorative accent for the fall season, and their flavor is good for any pie or winter squash recipe.
SUGAR PIE
Sugar Pies are the modern baking pumpkin. If you want to bake pies, and want a pumpkin instead of squash, this is the pumpkin for you! The skin is very thin, the flesh is sweeter and substantially finer-grained than a jack-o’-lantern type pumpkin (which were bred for thick rinds and stability when carved). It is also quite dry which makes for a more stable pie. You’ll be delighted with the results.
KABOCHA
Kabocha is a Japanese variety of winter squash with many varieties. They are all excellent used in soups, stews, and pies. They have a very firm dry flesh and lend themselves well to savory dishes. It can be baked, steamed, stuffed, or pureed. Works well as a substitution in recipes that call for pumpkin or sweet potatoes.
CHEESE PUMPKIN
Also known as the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin, this squash is squat and round like a wheel of cheese. They have very sweet flesh and are excellent in pies.
ACORNA
Acorn squash have an orange-yellow flesh. The flavor is sweet and nutty with a smooth texture. For best sweetness, wait at least 2 weeks after harvest before eating. Bake until soft, flip over, and fill the center with butter, brown sugar, and/or maple syrup.
HUBBARD SQUASH
(Blue, Golden, Green, or Gray)Large and bumpy like a misshapen teardrop, this squash is notable for its wart-covered exterior and its peach-colored flesh. The flesh is moist but is best prepared boiled or baked, and then pureed.
CARNIVAL
It tastes as good as it looks! It will store for several months and still maintain an excellent eating quality. Their flavor is somewhere between an Acorn and a Delicata. This squash is also excellent stuffed. Other good choices as stand-alone dishes or for stuffing are: Sugar Loaf, Sweet Dumpling, Acorn, and Butternut.
TOASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS
You can eat the seeds from any pumpkin variety. Some seeds are quite large, and others are very small. Some have really thick hulls. There are some varieties, however, that are especially good for toasted pumpkin seeds. Kakai seeds are completely hull-less. How cool is that?!
1. Rinse pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out the pulp and strings. (This is easiest just after you’ve removed the seeds from the pumpkin, before the pulp has dried.)
2. Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet, stirring to coat. If you prefer, omit the oil and coat with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 325˚ F until toasted, about 25 minutes, checking and stirring after 10 minutes.
4. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.
FAQs
If you're making pumpkin pie from scratch, try swapping in butternut squash for a sweeter, smoother pie. Sugar pumpkin tends to have stringy fibers. These are broken up when it's pureed, but pumpkin will never get as silky smooth and butternut squash.
What is the best tasting pumpkin for pie? ›
For cooking, you'll want to use sugar pumpkins (also called pie or sweet pumpkins), which are small and round. Long Island Cheese pumpkins, which are more oblong and can look like a wheel of cheese, are also good to eat. Field pumpkin types are larger, have watery, stringy flesh, and are best for decorating.
Will any pumpkin work for pie? ›
You should ask for a pie pumpkin or a sugar pumpkin. Pie pumpkins tend to have a thicker skin and more flesh on the inside than a carving pumpkin. The flesh is less stringy and the color is generally darker but not always.
How long do you have to wait to eat pumpkin pie after baking? ›
If properly wrapped—that is, loosely covered with aluminum foil or plastic wrap—a freshly baked pumpkin pie keeps in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Pumpkin pie is delicious cold, so you can serve it straight from the fridge (with plenty of homemade whipped cream, if you please).
What kind of squash is in Libby's pumpkin pie? ›
Libby's, the quintessential canned pumpkin brand, uses a proprietary strain of the Dickinson pumpkin variety in their product, which is also often called a Dickinson squash. On Libby's website, it states that their product is 100 percent pumpkin.
Which squash tastes most like pumpkin? ›
Hubbard Squash
Hubbards are slightly tear-shaped with dark green to pale grayish blue skins and remarkably sweet flesh with a clear pumpkin flavor.
Can you use regular pumpkins for baking? ›
It may seem tempting, but I wouldn't recommend cooking with the big pumpkins you normally get at the pumpkin patch. They tend to be very stringy and not flavorful. Instead, I recommend using a pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkin (pictured above).
What is the difference between pie pumpkins and regular pumpkins? ›
Pie pumpkins, also called sugar pumpkins, usually weigh 1 to 6 pounds. Their flesh is denser and sweeter that the bigger ones, which are called carving or jack-o'-lantern pumpkins. The biggies have a moister, softer interior with a bigger seed cavity, and the flesh tends to be stringier.
Are Jack O'Lantern pumpkins good for pies? ›
Jack O Lantern pumpkins, which is lighter than baking pumpkins and also can be baked and turned into a pumpkin pie or desert.
Can I leave pumpkin pie on the counter overnight? ›
How Long Can Pumpkin Pie Be Left at Room Temperature? Your pumpkin pie can safely sit out on the kitchen counter for up to 2 hours, says the FDA. After that, you run the risk of bacterial growth.
Pumpkin pie is a great make-ahead dessert to cross off your Thanksgiving to-do list. You can prepare and bake the pie up to two days in advance, and it will still taste great on the big day. Just make sure you store the pie in the refrigerator—not on the kitchen counter—until you are ready to serve it.
Why is store-bought pumpkin pie not refrigerated? ›
Why Are Store-Bought Pies Not Refrigerated? So that brings many of us to the question: Why are the pumpkin pies at the grocery store sitting out? Store-bought pumpkin pies include shelf-stable ingredients such as preservatives which allow them to last longer, even at room temp.
Is a type of squash that is used in pie? ›
We scoured the internet for pie recipes and found two clear winners: butternut and kabocha. Butternut offers a delicate sweetness and smooth texture, while kabocha offers a uniquely silky texture, chestnut flavor, and bright-orange color.
What squash is best for baking? ›
Hubbard Squash
Its dry flesh is fine-grained, orange, and sweet, and it's best baked or boiled. The thick skin on a hubbard squash can be extremely hard and difficult to peel; on the plus side, that means it can keep for a very long time (up to eight months), and makes it well suited to stuffing and baking.
What's the difference between pumpkin squash and butternut squash? ›
In the kitchen the pumpkin is tougher, both skin and flesh. The butternut squash is also much softer and sweeter and can be easily mistaken for a sweet potato in both taste and texture. However, these differences also depend on the variety and origin of the pumpkin and squash.
Can you use butternut squash instead of pumpkin puree? ›
Butternut, buttercup, honeynut and acorn squashes are all suitable substitutes. Each of these types of squash has a similar texture to pumpkin and some natural sweetness. To substitute these squashes for pumpkin, prepare them as you would pumpkin for fresh pumpkin puree: clean, roast, puree in a food processor.
